Decisions, decisions... Color for the exterior and interior

Well the wiring harness is on the way and I picked up the steering wheel, the custom horn button should be here today... provided that the post office will make it through the snow!


No, that is not a Honda Element on steroids, that is my Bronco with about 2 feet of snow pilled on top!

While I do not plan on doing anything with the paint or interior for a while, and even when I do order new seats for safety more than anything else, I won't be doing any custom upholstery for a very long time. I do need to make a choice on the color I'll be tenting the Raptor Liner that will adorn the exterior in June or July. I went to Reno Paint Mart who spent hours with me looking through color books and mixing up several samples (and only charged me $30 for the effort!). The following is the end result of round 1.

The goal is a functional, easy to care for coating and color that will resist and hide trail scratches and even minor dents and dings.

In this pic, the "Fashion Green" paint in the bottom right corner is in consideration for the main color of the body, hard top, and interior panels. If I go this route, the inners of the Corbeau seats will be reupholstered in the Trail Tan waxed canvas shown in the top right. The hard top will remain bright white no matter what. It is an iconic symbol of the FJ40 and I couldn't part with it. The pros of this green is that it is a factory Toyota color from 1968. I love the throwback idea of an original color on my 40! The cons are that it will show dirt and dust a lot more than the tans an beiges  under consideration. The other pro... well my wife Kelly LOVES green and really likes this color. Happy wife, happy life! 👫

Should I decide to take the risk of an unhappy wife and go with one of the tans or beiges, I will attempt to sate her wrath with a green accented interior.


The "Toy Beige" is a factory Toyota color, but from 2016. You can see a lot of Tacoma's driving around with this semi-matte color. I am leaning toward the "Sheriff's Tan" in the top left corner, or the "BASF Camo Desert Tan" just to the left of the green. Pros to them both are that they will reduce heat absorption and hide dirt and dust.

I am honestly leaning toward the green though. Yes, it might be slightly less practical than the others, but I really like the OEM color! Here's some examples of 40's painted in these color families.








I think the last three images are my favorite and those greens (somewhere in between them) are very similar to the one in the samples. The tan Cruiser looks really cool with the high contrast between the tan and the black. It is a tough choice for me and I'll be taking my time while considering because once it is on, it will stay one for many, many years.

Here's a pic of the seats from Corbeau that I plan on putting into the 40. You will have to use your imagination to see see the inners (everything that would touch your skin when sitting) in the waxed canvas while the backs and outters remain black vinyl or perhaps leather.




More to come!

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